2011/2012 Season

Actually, the Leafs Did It Right

TORONTO (May 10) — After the Maple Leafs fired Sheldon Keefe on Thursday, the headline to my blog read ALWAYS THE EASIEST PATH FOR MLSE. I would therefore consider myself an insufferable hypocrite if I began this column by piling… Read More

Always The Easiest Path For MLSE

TORONTO (May 9) — It should come as no surprise that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment appears to be following the path of least resistance. Again. Rather than starting from scratch and building a new hockey department, the Leafs, today,… Read More

Leafs Fans Deserve Housecleaning

TORONTO (May 7) — The hockey bar in this city is so low that giving it an honest try over three games, while doing just enough to lose again in the opening playoff round, was acceptable for at least one… Read More

Loss Leads to Throwaway Season

TORONTO (May 5) — Yeah, the Maple Leafs gave it a shot; more–so than any of us felt possible after Game 4 produced one of the most desultory home playoff displays of all time. In the end, however, it was… Read More

May the 4th Be With You

TORONTO (May 4) — Some impertinent notes and notions on the Saturday of Game 7… Tonight will mark the eighth time that the Toronto Maple Leafs have appeared in a Stanley Cup playoff game on May 4. The club’s record… Read More

The Bruins are Toast

TORONTO (May 3) — After Games 5 and 6 of this playoff round between Toronto and Boston, we can genuinely tell you the Bruins no longer deserve to win. It doesn’t mean they won’t, as the law of averages has… Read More

Pressure Is All On The Maple Leafs

TORONTO (May 1) — Oh, they tried, desperately, in the supper hour tonight: Mark Masters, Glen Schiller, Bryan Hayes, Bruce Boudreau and the other talking heads on Leafs–owned TSN claiming the pressure in the Toronto–Boston playoff series has shifted to… Read More

The Leafs Won’t Expire Tonight

***UPDATE (7 p.m. EST): AUSTON MATTHEWS, WHO SCORED 69 GOALS THIS SEASON TO LEAD THE NHL, DID NOT TAKE THE ICE AT TD GARDEN FOR THE WARM–UP TONIGHT WITH THE LEAFS AND HAS BEEN RULED OUT OF GAME 5.*** TORONTO… Read More

Is Auston Matthews Concussed?

TORONTO (Apr. 29) — Though the Maple Leafs do not disclose medical information (hey, Gary Bettman, how are fans to wager on games in the National Hockey League without such data?), a tidbit of sincerity raised the antenna of a… Read More

Golf Season Is Nearly Upon Us

And, now, the Leafs must wade into the abyss, also known as Scotiabank Arena, for Games 3 and 4. It is currently a best–of–five clash with the Leafs possessing home ice disadvantage. How else can we position the series … Read More

The Leafs Dilemma… and Bob Cole

TORONTO (Apr. 26) — It’s been said that numbers do not lie. And, a trio of numerals representing the Maple Leafs absolutely must change or the club will never challenge for the Stanley Cup; not this year or in the… Read More

Now Comes The Hard Part

TORONTO (Apr. 23) — It isn’t often, if ever, that a team will pursue a split of consecutive playoff games on home ice. That objective is normally reserved for a road team, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs in their… Read More

What If It Happens Again?

TORONTO (Apr. 22) — I know it’s difficult, Leafs Nation, to embrace perspective about your team, especially after such a debacle as the playoff opener in Boston the other night. But, heck, it was just a year ago that Tampa… Read More

“Car 34, Where Were You?”

TORONTO (Apr. 21) — Was it a look of confusion… or a deer in the headlights? Decide for yourself, as captain John Tavares left the ice (below) after a severely humbling, 5–1 loss by the Maple Leafs to the Boston… Read More

It’ll Be All Brad… All the Time

TORONTO (Apr. 20) — This prediction is too easy… and, quite frankly, too predictable: If the Toronto Maple Leafs get tormented by Brad Marchand, yet again, golf season around here will start early. Yet again. No player in the National… Read More

Argos In A Hell–Like Scenario

TORONTO (Apr. 11) — I can only imagine the angst; the fear and the disappointment that has overwhelmed the Toronto Argonauts in recent months… and far–more quietly than it would have in an earlier era. Good Lord, how this city… Read More

Egad! The Leafs Look Playoff Ready

TORONTO (Apr. 10) — While most of Leafs Nation is consumed by the media–driven race to 70 goals for Auston Matthews, I see elements potentially more exciting for fans of the Blue and White. From my perspective, this is the… Read More

A New Era Begins For The Leafs

TORONTO (Apr. 1) — Please pardon me the sin of diverting you, even temporarily, from the Auston Matthews love–fest in the mainstream media. I promise to not keep you very long. But, a far–more significant event is about to unfold… Read More